Species, serpents, spirits, and skulls
Subtitle: science at the margins of the victorian age
By: Sherrie Lynne Lyons.
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Albany
Language: eng
Number of pages: 245
ISBN-13: 9781438427973
Subjects: Science -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century; Great Britain -- Intellectual life -- 19th century
Description: "Science permeates nearly every aspect of our lives, and yet, as current debates over intelligent design, the causes of global warming, and alternative health practices indicate, the question of how to distinguish science from pseudoscience remains a difficult one. To address this question, Sherrie Lynne Lyons draws on four examples from the nineteenth century - sea serpent investigations, spiritualism, phrenology, and Darwin's theory of evolution. Each attracted the interest of prominent scientists as well as the general public, yet three remained at the edges of scientific respectability while the fourth, evolutionary theory, although initially regarded as scientific heresy, ultimately became the new scientific orthodoxy." "Taking a serious look at the science behind these examples, Lyons argues that distinguishing between science and pseudoscience, particularly in the midst of discovery, is not as easy as the popular image of science tends to suggest."--Jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : an age of transition; title: Swimming at the edges of scientific respectability : sea serpents, Charles Lyell, and the professionalization of geology; title: Franz Gall, Johann Spurzheim, George Combe and phrenology : a science for everyone; title: The crisis in faith : William Crookes and spiritualism; title: Morals and materialism : Alfred Russel Wallace, spiritualism, and the problem of evolution; title: Thatige skepsis : Thomas Huxley and evolutionary theory; title: Negotiating the boundaries of science : an ongoing process.